


Behind The Veil

by Solitae



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Dragon Age AU, Multi, lilsquisitor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-27
Updated: 2016-01-27
Packaged: 2018-05-16 17:52:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5835151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Solitae/pseuds/Solitae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Lils Hawke and Kathil Amell sneak into the Conclave, and as usual, are at the exact right/wrong place at the right/wrong time. </i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Behind The Veil

**Author's Note:**

> _Kathil belongs to[aithne](http://archiveofourown.org/users/aithne/pseuds/aithne) and she helped with this. Lils aka Lilian Hawke is mine and uses xe/xyr pronouns but previously identified as female in Kirkwall. Lils and Kathil met through Zevran a year or so before the Chantry explosion. _

Since they’d stumbled out of the Fade, Lils had drifted in and out of consciousness. The only thing reliably holding xyr up was the manacles that locked xyr wrists to Kathil’s. Kathil ignored them. Just like she ignored the ring of armed guards. She couldn’t spare focus to think about how clammy Lils’ skin felt and how shallow xyr breathing was.

The manacles had slowed her magic to a trickle. But it was enough of a trickle. Enough combined with the dark wings in her mind to keep the sickly green mark from spreading. _If_ she focused.

_Come on, Lils. Wake up._

********

Tingling. Itching. Something trying to crawl up xyr left arm pulled xyr out of xyr stupor. Xe shook xyr head to try to clear it. It throbbed. _Helpful._

A cold sharp prickle chased the thing on xyr arm back, and as xe took another breath, recognition sunk in. _Kathil._ More specifically, Kathil’s magic doing …something.

Xyr own rose to meet it, but… slight contact. Dulled somehow. Why the fuck did xyr hand itch so badly? Xe reached to scratch it, and something yanked back. Xe started to pull again, and Kathil’s thin fingers folded over xyrs, holding them still.

That was Kathil’s back against xyrs, her spine completely rigid. Other than the grip on Lils’ hand, she was completely motionless, at odds with the frantic ripple of her magic cascading down Lils’ arm. Fear trembled through that.

Reaching for xyr magic brought a fresh nauseating sensation, and Kathil’s fingers twitched on xyrs again. _Templar manacles. Right. Fuck._ Templar manacles and three swords pointed at xyr by three very heavily armored guards. Not templars. Why _not_ templars? Thank the fucking Maker not templars.

The next pulse of Kathil’s magic jabbed at xyr foggy brain. That didn’t help the headache. _Thanks, Kathil, I didn’t need that eye._

Fine. Settle. Take a breath. Let xyr muted magic brush against Kathil’s. Kathil’s spine loosened just the smallest measure. Three guards in sight, that meant at least three more plus whoever was outside, the manacles, a locked - The world flashed green and spun and the tingle in xyr arm surged. Xe swore xyr skin was tearing right off until cold clamped down on the sensation. It fought, writhing, but xe gritted xyr teeth and clenched xyr eyes shut, following Kathil’s magic and pushing back at it.

For a few seconds the battle was all there was. And then just as abruptly it was over. Xe panted and blinked until the green tinge hung on only the fringes of xyr vision. Good enough. If good enough included the sensation that your own arm was trying to kill you. Xe finally looked down at it and blinked …then blinked again.

As xyr pulse rose, Kathil’s fingers clamped down hard on xyrs and xe felt a lighter brush of her magic. _Don’t panic._

Shivering, Lils let xyr head fall back to rest against Kathil’s and tried to sift through xyr muddled thoughts again. They’d left Zev and Warren with the kids. Somewhere. Keran too. Highever. Right. With Bela lurking nearby. They’d left them behind. And Keran had pitched an awful fit about them going …about them going. Where had they been going? Keran was sure they’d be recognized at the …at the…rebellion? Mages. Templars. Chantry. Oh.

The Conclave.

_Shit._

That hardly sunk in before another spasm tore through xyr arm, and xe clung to Kathil’s hand as they fought it. That was the rhythm they settled into, each time mastering it a little more. Trying to conserve enough energy for the inevitable fight.

***********

Mathieu had seen them fall out of the Fade, he had helped retrieve them from the smoking remains of the temple, two alive where so many died. Now he stood guard over them at Seeker Pentaghast’s orders. He had wondered at first whether it was for their safety or everyone else’s, but now he knew.

He had never known the air to seethe with menace before. Not really. He thought he had, but it was nothing to this. It had the sharp clean smell right after a lightning strike, the chill of new snow, and _something_ undefinable that made made his skin prickle.

And it all rolled from the pair chained back to back in the center of their circle. Six swords trained on them, good fighters too, but he knew none of them were sure they could win if the manacles gave way even if the taller one was sick.

Seeker Pentaghast could not return soon enough.

***********

Lils had stabilized. That was reassuring. What the thing was on her arm, Kathil had not worked out yet, but it echoed something outside, something all around them, some disturbance of the Veil or the Fade. That was less reassuring. Also less reassuring was the mounting screaming in her mind _almost_ forming into words.

The longer they stayed, the worse it got.

They had to get moving soon. Her eyes locked on the door, and her ears straining for sounds beyond it.  Lils focused xyr trickle of magic on the enchantments of the manacles, probing them for weakness.

Something–

_Shifted._

Kathil’s stomach lurched as footsteps pounded towards the door, someone with long legs and hard boots moving rapidly.

She felt Lils freeze, xyr magic dissolving away at the same moment the door slammed open. _  
_

***********

Heavy boots stalking into the room almost covered the whisper-quiet ones behind them, and xe felt Kathil go perfectly still, her magic gathered as much as possible. The small sharp inbreath that followed was a surprise however, and Lils found xyrself craning to see who had come in.

Xe shouldn’t have bothered.

A Seeker’s eye loomed in xyr face and a voice tore through the hush. “Tell me why we shouldn’t kill you now! Everyone that attended the Conclave is dead! Except for _you_.”

Lils stared into the woman’s furious eyes. _A Seeker. Of course._ Xe could almost hear the thought echo from Kathil, and xe wasn’t sure if the growl was in xyr mind or audible. _You can -try-._

The whisper-quiet one started to come into - “Explain this!” The Seeker’s gloved hand closed over xyr marked one and yanked on it. This time xe was sure the growl was audible. Kathil yanked back on the manacle, and she pressed hard against Lils’ back. Green flashed, xyr vision wavering.

“I _can’t_ ,” xe snarled, “You exp-”

“What do you mean you _can’t_?” Grief, anger, terror shook the woman. Lils shoved back when she pushed at her. “You are LYING!”

Sparks scattered against xyr back, and suddenly an arm was in front of xyr, hauling the Seeker back.

“We need them, Cassandra.” Xyr gaze flicked up. _Sister Fucking Nightingale_ _._ Her damn blue eyes gave away nothing. They’d only met once in Kirkwall; maybe she didn’t recog- …but she knew Kathil. _Fuck._

“Do you remember what happened? How this began?” A familiar need for answers rang through her softer voice, and what they had said began to sink in. Everyone at the Conclave. Dead. Xe curled xyr hand tightly around Kathil’s.

Xe met the Nightingale’s eyes and held them for a moment, letting her search before xe shook xyr head. They held there until the Seeker pulled her back, her voice breaking the tenuous connection. “Go to the forward camp, Leliana. I will take them to the rift.”

Their eyes met briefly again, then the Nightingale’s gaze skimmed to Kathil and something wordless passed between them before she slipped out the door.

“What _did_ happen?” Kathil’s voice made xyr jump, and for the first time, the Seeker seemed to truly notice her.

“It will be easier if I show you.”

The manacles fell away when the Seeker touched them, and she jerked her hand back, staring at them. Lils gave her a sharp humorless smile as xe laced xyr fingers with Kathil’s.

There was a beat of silence before the Seeker finally spoke. “I suppose ropes would be pointless.”

Kathil’s grip on Lils’ hand tightened as she pushed to her feet. “Yes.”

The Seeker had barely shifted her weight toward Lils when Kathil slid between them, leaving the Seeker with her proverbial dick in her hand. With Kathil’s help, xe managed to stand without wobbling.

“Let’s go.”  There was no keeping the snap out of xyr voice. _Fucking Seekers, fucking Chantry, fucking thing in xyr hand_. Probably was their fault. Xe gave xyr head a sharp shake, and xe and Kathil made their way out with the Seeker, Kathil keeping herself between them.

They finally stepped outside; Lils grimaced at the light. The green creeping over xyr vision was worse in bright light apparently, and xyr skin crawled with it. Xe blinked a few times before realizing Kathil had frozen looking at the sky. _Something_ xe didn’t want to see was up there, but xe looked up anyway.

Fade light poured from a gaping wound in the sky. _Fuck._

“We call it the Breach…” Xe barely heard the Seeker talking as xyr world turned green again.


End file.
